Stocks rise with eye on Mideast, Thanksgiving holiday

LONDON (AP) — Stock markets mostly rose Wednesday as investors kept a wary eye on developments in the Middle East after Turkey shot down a Russian warplane. Trading was light ahead of the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday.

KEEPING SCORE: Britain's FTSE 100 rose 1 percent to 6,337.17 and the CAC 40 of France gained 1.4 percent to 4,888.76. Germany's DAX was up 1.6 percent at 11,106.30. Wall Street also looked set for gains. Dow and S&P 500 futures were both up 0.3 percent.

TURKEY-RUSSIA: The downing by Turkey of a Russian fighter plane that Turkey said had violated its airspace and ignored warnings added further complexity to the crisis in Syria. Russia said Turkey had betrayed it and that its jets had not violated Turkish airspace. Though stocks in Europe fell heavily on Tuesday, they recovered their poise on Wednesday as diplomats worked to reduce tensions.

US DATA: Investors will look to U.S. economic reports due Wednesday before the long weekend in the U.S. for Thanksgiving holiday. Figures are due on durable goods and personal income and a survey of the services sector will give a snapshot of business activity in November. The data will be evaluated in light of the Federal Reserve's upcoming meeting in December, at which it is expected to start raising interest rates.

ENERGY: The price of U.S. crude oil was down 1.7 percent to $42.16 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It gained $1.12, or 2.7 percent, to $42.87 a barrel in New York on Tuesday, following a 3.4-percent jump on Monday.

CURRENCIES: The dollar rose to 122.70 yen from 122.43 yen on Tuesday. The euro fell to $1.0596 from $1.0654.